<a href="http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/07/28/news/state/33-import.txt">Cattle groups pleased with halt of import plan</a><br />n<br />n<blockquote>Officials with leading cattle industry groups in the state said they were pleased with the federal government's plan to halt, for now, an effort to expand cattle and beef trade with Canada because of mad cow disease. A leader of one of those groups, however, said the move doesn't go far enough.<br />n<br />nBill Bullard, CEO of R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America, said the U.S. Department of Agriculture should suspend all beef and cattle trade with Canada until more is known about the extent of the disease in the Canadian cattle herd and officials reassess the risk continued trade poses to the U.S. cattle industry and to consumers.</blockquote><br />n<br />nThe <acronym title="United States Department of Agriculture, Bought and Paid for by The Big Meat Packers">USDA</acronym> pulled it's plan for allowing cattle over 30 months of age access to the US after the latest <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> case in Canada. R-Calf was sure pleased but want more imports stopped. Other cattle groups are a little more moderate and are glad to see this and comfortable with letting younger cattle in.<br />n<br />nWhat really surprised me was this:<br />n<br />n<blockquote>The executive vice president of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, Dennis Laycraft, said the decision appeared to be a matter simply of "due diligence." He expected the investigative work to be completed within weeks.</blockquote><br />n<br />nSo The Canadian Cattleman's Association isn't even surprised or worried about this. Normally they are screaming and yelling about such a thing but not this time.<br />n<br />nPersonally I think it is a good move. My question still remains in the air. Why does Canada have such a greater prevalence of <acronym title="Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy">BSE</acronym> in a much smaller total herd than the US. I would really like to know this.<br />n<br />n<strong>Precaution is better than cure. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe</strong>